Reusable form for folding shirts



June 25, 1968 Filed larch 3. 1967 F'. A. SCHWARTZ REUSABLE FORM FOR FOLDING SHIRTS 9 Sheets Sheet 1 June 25, 1968 SCHWARTZ 3,389,841

REUSABLE FORM FOR FOLDING SHIRTS Filed larch 3. 1967 2 tsheet 2 INVENTOR. fa )7. SEunmRr-z United States Patent "ice 3,389,841 REUSABLE FORM FOR FOLDING SHIRTS Frederick A. Schwartz, 86 Judson Ave., Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. 10522 Filed Mar. 3, 1967, Ser. No. 620,412 3 Claims. (Cl. 223-71) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A form which can be used repeatedly for holding shirts and like garments, preferably permanently pressed shirts that are stored away after the form has been removed from the folded shirt. The form consists of a single piece made of a flat uncreased and uncreasable semistiff sheet material such as a high impact butadiene-polystyrene. The form is of oblong planar shape with straight parallel side edges, a centered head lip projecting from the top edge and downwardly sloped portions extending from the head lip to the side edges. The bottom edge is centrally notched. Handling apertures are provided within the periphery of the form. The form is dimensioned to have a shirt folded about it with the shirt bosom fiat and facing forwardly.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention A repeatedly reusable form for folding into a smaller compass a shirt or similar garment from which the form is withdrawn subsequent to folding and prior to stowing of the folded shirt.

Description of the prior art Shirts as purchased at a store or as returned after commercial laundering are neatly folded in a conventional manner so that they can be stored away in a small space and so that they will not tend to wrinkle when thus stored. This folding is such that a substantial portion of the bosom of the shirt is flat, the remainder of the shirt front and the sleeves being tucked in back of the flat bosom. Such nicety of folding is accomplished with the aid of automatic professional machinery which forms the folds and causes the various portions of the shirt to assume their proper relative relationship. The automatic professional folding machinery is quite complex and obviously can be employed only where it is economically feasible, as, for example, where a great number of shirts must be folded in the foregoing manner. Quite apparently, such automatic professional machinery cannot, as a practical manner, be employed in the home.

For the past several years shirts and the like garments, for instance, blouses, have been made with a permanent press, this being a postcuring or precuring chemical treatment which is such that after a shirt is washed and machine or drip-dried it will resume a predetermined configuration that is wrinkle-free except where pressed folds have been set into the shirt or garment. Such permanently pressed shirts and blouses have been widely accepted. However, they have one serious drawback. Manufacturers recommend that, after the shirts are Patented June 25, 1968 washed and dried and for some shirts simply after the shirts are washed, or washed and machine spun dried, the shirts be draped on hangers until use. This is deemed desirable in order to aid in maintaining the shape of the shirt and the absence of wrinkles therefrom. However, the hangers can not be strewn about the house at random and therefore until the present invention it has been usual to suspend hangers with washed and machine dried permanently pressed shirts, blouses and the like garments thereon, on hooks and rods, located, for instance, in closets. But hanging shirts in a closet is repugnant to housewives because, by tradition, shirts and blouses have been stored in furniture, e.g., bureau or dresser, drawers. It is against the housewifes instinct to store her husbands and childrens shirts and her own and her childrens blouses in the closet when all her training makes her want to place these garments in drawers. Indeed, closet space in the typical American household is at a premium, whereas drawer space is more readily available. It therefore would be highly advantageous if such permanently pressed shirts and blouses could be folded in the same manner as with a professional automatic folding machine, but thus folded in the home with facil ity and at little or no expense and without the use of such machine.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of my invention to provide a shirt folding form which avoids the aforementioned drawbacks and accomplishes the foregoing desiderata.

More particularly, it is an object of my invention to provide a form for folding shirts, such as permanent press shirts, and for folding blouses, which form can be mass produced at an extremely low cost, so low, indeed, that the form can be packed with new shirts or blouses simply as a no-cost premium to encourage the user to buy the garments sold with such a form.

It is another object of my invention to provide a form of the character described which constitutes only a single part, to wit, one single piece with no auxiliary pieces attached thereto or movable relative thereto, whereby the cost of the form can be kept very low.

It is another object of my invention to provide a form of the character described which is a single sheet of flat semistuif material whereby the expense of the form can be reduced to an absolute minimum and whereby the form can be manufactured easily by speedy methods of production, such, for instance, as die cutting flat sheet material.

It is another object of my invention to provide a form of the character described which requires no training as to its use, that is to say, a form which needs nothing but the simplest of instructions to create a professional-appearing folding for a shirt, blouse, or like article.

It is another object of my invention to provide a form of the character described which can be used by a housewife having practically no manual dexterity and no training, and yet with which an unskilled housewife can fold a garment to look almost like a professionally folded garment.

It is another object of my invention to provide a form of the character described which will retain its original shape and configuration, that is to say, one which is uncreasable, so that despite repeated usage it will be ready 3 at all times to be employed in the same manner as originally intended.

It is another object of my invention to provide a form of the character described which is fiat, so that it expense of manufacture is reduced, inasmuch as no bending is required, so that it can be stored in a small space in the home or store, so that it is less liable to be broken in use, and so that it is easy for a housewife to employ.

It is another object of my invention to provide a form of the character described which, despite the fact that it constitutes but a single flat sheet, creates straight side creases in a folded shirt and can be readily withdrawn from a folded shirt for storage or reuse.

Other objects of my invention in part will be obvious and in part will be pointed out hereinafter.

My invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and. arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the device hereinafter described and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of my unique form for folding shirts; and

FIGS. 2-7 are a series of perspective sketches illustrating successive steps in folding a shirt with the aid of said form.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIG. 1, the reference numeral denotes a form for folding shirts, its principal use being for folding mens and boys permanent press shirts, although the same form also can be used for folding like garments, e.g., womens, misses and girls shirts, womens, misses and girls blouses, sweaters, and upper garments in general, such garments being characterized by their ability to be folded and stored away in drawers.

The form 10 is flat, that is to say, planar. It is not, for instance, arcuate in either transverse or longitudinal section, either in whole or in part. It also does not, for example, include any panels or portions which are either flat or curved and which extend away from the body of the form at an angle thereto. Moreover, the form constitutes but a single piece of sheet material. The sheet material is semistitf and uncreasable, and the form has no crease therein. In the preferred embodiment of my invention, the form 10 is made of plastic and is about ,4 of an inch thick. Hence, it is somewhat flexible and resilient but cannot be permanently bent. An excellent material for the form is a high impact butadiene-polystyrene plastic.

The form is of a generally oblong configuration. Specifically, it includes a rectangular body 12 and a centered head lip 14 projecting from the top edge of the body. Particular attention is directed to the fact that there are no cutouts, i.e., notches or recesses, in the longitudinal I side edges of the oblong body. This is an important feature of my invention which, as later will be apparent, enables the form to be readily withdrawn from a shirt folded around the same and also assists the housewife in making straight side edges on the folded shirt.

The body of the form 10 is of substantially uniform width from top to bottom, except, of course, for the projecting head lip 14. In other words, the longitudinal side edges of the body of the form are substantially parallel to one another. This, too, facilitates easy withdrawal of the form from a shirt or the like garment which has been folded about the same.

The centered head lip 14 at the top edge of the form optionally has its side edges undercut, as illustrated, so that it is in the form of an inverted dovetail. Attention also is directed to the fact that the sides of the top edge to both the right and the left of the centered head lip are downwardly inclined from the head lip to the longitudinal side edges. The angle of downward inclination is comparatively mild, for example, about 20 to 25 At the bottom edge of the form means is included to denote the center of said bottom edge. Conveniently, such means is in the form of a V-shaped notch 16 at the center of the bottom edge. Alternately, a center index mark can be imprinted on the form.

Elongated longitudinal apertures 18 are provided on opposite sides of the longitudinal center line of the oblong body, the purpose of said apertures being to faciiitate manipulation and handling of the form during its temporary association with a shirt and the folding of a shirt thereover. A transversely elongated aperture 20 is provided near the top edge of the form for the same purpose.

Although for the most precise folding of a shirt or the like garment there might be provided a set of several differently dimensioned forms of the same shapes for different sizes of shirts, as a practical matter, it suffices to make the form in just two different sizes, one large and one small, the large one being for adult shirts and the like and the small one being for childrens shirts and the like. By way of example, the adult form is 9 inches across and 15 inches long, the length being from the tip of the centered head lip to the bottom edge, The childs size is 7 inches by 12 inches. It has been found that with the aid of these two forms all sizes of shirts and like garments can be satisfactorily folded. For instance, the adult size is used to fold shirts from size 14 to size 20 (neck size) and the childs size is used to fold all smaller shirts.

Although it is possible to make the form by injection molding, I prefer to fabricate the same by blanking from sheet stock of suitable matelial. By way of example, the blanking is performed with the aid of rule dies which cut the periphery of the form to the proper configuration and which either in the same or a subsequent operation cut out the apertures 18, 20. This technique lends itself particularly Well to the manufacture of my new form inasmuch as the form is flat (uncreased and uncurved), so that the form can be made from inexpensive sheet stock.

The operation of the form 10 for folding a permanent press shirt will now be described. From this description it will be apparent how the various structural aspects of the form above set forth are significant.

First, as shown in FIG. 2, a shirt 22 has its front buttoned and is placed face down on a fiat surface with the arms 24 stretched out sideways. The back of the shirt, and with it the front, are smoothed out by hand. The side seams, if any, are arranged at the sides of the flattened shirt. The collar is turned down, that is to say, the outer panel of the collar is folded down to extend along, over and coextensive with the inner panel (neck band) of the collar, so that the usual slot (space) is provided between these two panels which slot terminates at a crease or fold at the top of the neck band. The shoulder yoke 26 extends from the top of one armhole 28 to the top of the opposite armhole. Thereby, the back of the shirt is uppermost, the shirt is fiat with the tail down, the collar is at the top of the shirt and fiat, (front on the fiat surface and back uppermost) and the rear portion of the collar slot is at the back of the shirt and faces downwardly.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3, the form is placed over the back of the shirt and the centered head lip is inserted into the collar slot at the back of the collar. The top of the head lip is about 5 inches across and therefore fills approximately /3 of the total collar slot or about of so much of the collar slot as is located at the back of the shirt in the flat folded condition thereof shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Hence, the head lip locates the folded collar in a predetermined position with respect to the form when the head lip is thrust into the collar slot until its upper edge contacts and lies against the inner surface of the top fold of the folded down collar.

The head lip is centered with respect to the folded down collar, this being done by visual examination and handling of the form. The form can be held either by the back edge, as shown in FIG. 3, or by fingers extending through the aperture 20, or by fingers extending through both apertures 18, any of these modes of handling being useful in manipulation of the form and placement thereof on the shirt and in the collar.

Now the form, with the head lip in the collar slot, is laid down fiat against the exterior exposed surface of the back of the flat shirt. The form is symmetrically arranged with and centered relative to the fiat shirt disposed with its front face fiat down on a horizontal surface. The centering of the form and its symmetrical placement is accomplished with the aid of two portions of the form. The centering is accomplished by locating the notch 16 directly above the line of buttons 30 on the downwardly facing front of the shirt. These buttons can be felt through the fabric of the shirt back. The top edge of the form is centered by visually centering of the head lip 14 with respect to the back of the collar.

Moreover, the centering and symmetrical placement of the form is aided by the sloped sides of the top edge. These sloped sides are disposed directly beneath the folded upper edge of the shoulder yoke 26, as can be seen in FIG. 3. If the form is too much either to the right or the left, a discrepancy between the position of either sloped side edge and the corresponding sloped folded edge of the shoulder yoke will be immediately apparent. Likewise, if the form is angularly inclined, i.e., out of alignment with the longitudinal axis of the shirt, this too will be apparent by dissimilar angles formed between the two sloped sides of the top edges of the form and the sloped folded shoulder yoke edges.

As a result of all of these structural factors, proper placement of the form on the back of the shirt with the head lip in the fold is almost automatically assured by even the most inexperienced of housewives on her first try. There are so many points at which proper symmetry and proper placement are checked that it requires an almost deliberate mishandling of the form to improperly position the same, other than as described above.

Attention also. is drawn to the fact that because the head lip 14 is in the same plane as the oblong body 12, it is particularly easy to couple the form to a shirt which is lying flat on a flat horizontal surface. It is not, for example, necessary to angularly incline the folded collar so that it will stand up from the flat surface. Nor is it necessary to manipulate the collar so that it will be in a specific angular relationship with respect to the body of the shirt.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the sleeves are folded across the back of the shirt, shoulder to shoulder. In other words, either sleeve is folded at the armhole 28, so that the sleeve lies across the back of the shirt and the cuff reaches the opposite armhole or approximately so. If the sleeve is a little too long for this, the sleeve is so folded that the tip of the cuff reaches the opposite armhole and the fold at the base of the sleeve is allowed to fall wherein it will, even outside of the armhole. The opposite sleeve is folded in a similar manner, so that it overlies the first folded sleeve. At this time, and as shown in FIG. 4, approximately A to /3 of the side of the shirt and of the overfolded sleeves project beyond opposite longitudinal edges of the form.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the projecting portions of the shirts and overfolded sleeves are folded back, first one side and then the other, over the form 10. FIG. 5 shows one side, specifically, the projecting left side of the shirt and the part of the right and left sleeves which overlie the same, folded back over the form, and it shows the right projecting side of the shirt and overlying portions of the sleeves being folded over the right edge of the form. The folding action shown in FIG. 5 folds the shirt over the left and right edges of the form. The ensuing side folds are straight because the side edges of the rectangular body are straight, i.e., not concave. Hence,

in the finished shirt these folds will be straight and of sightly appearance, and will lend a neat look to the fully folded shirt. After the folding demonstrated by FIG. 5 is complete, the upper portion of the shirt has the front and back central portions thereof underlying the form 10, and the side portions thereof overlying the form 10. The lower portion of the shirt, both front and back, extends downwardly away from the bottom edge of the form.

Next, the tip of the tail of the shirt is folded back to overlie back of the shirt extending below the form and then this portion of the shirt with the infolded tip is folded back onto the form over the previously infolded side portions of the shirt, as shown in FIG. 6.

Then, the form with the shirt folded around the same is turned upside down so that the front face of the upper part of the shirt bosom faces upwardly and the back of the collar is lifted off the centered head lip. Finally, as shown in FIG. 7, the form 10 is pulled out from the skirt which has been folded around it, the shirt at this time having the folded configuration normally associated with a professionally folded shirt as it comes new from the factory or as it comes freshly folded from a laundry.

It thus will be seen that I have provided a device which achieves the various objects of my present invention and which is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein described or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A reusable withdrawable form for manually folding garments such as permanent press shirts and the like to provide a fiat bosom with the sides, tails and sleeves of the garment neatly folded in back of the garment bosom and with the form removed, said form constituting a single piece of flat planar uncreased and uncreasable semistiff sheet material having a body of oblong shape with straight substantially parallel uninterrupted free side edges for the full length of the body, the top edge of the body including a centered upwardly projecting head lip in the plane of the body and downwardly symmetrically sloped lateral smooth uninterrupted portions between the base of the head lip and the top of the side edges, said sloped lateral portions joining the top of the side edges at round corners, said body having a bottom edge perpendicular to the side edges, and means denoting the center of the bottom edge, whereby in order to fold a garment with said form the garment is placed face down on a fiat surface with its arms stretched out, with the front and back of the garment smooth and with the collar turned down to form a collar slot, then the form is placed over the back of the garment with the head l p inserted in the collar slot at the back of the collar, with the form centered side-to-side on the garment, with the sides of the garment projectin beyond the side edges of the form, with the sloped lateral portions of the form directly beneath the upper edge of the front yoke of the folded garment and with the tail of the garment projecting beyond the bottom edge of the form, then the sleeves are folded across the back of the garment shoulder-toshoulder and over the form, then the projecting sides of the garment and the overfolded sleeves are folded back over the form, then the tip of the tail of the garment is folded back to overlie the back of the garment below the form and then the bottom of the garment with the infolded tip is folded back over the previously infolded side portions and the form, then the form with the garment folded around it is turned upside down so that the bosom of the garment faces upwardly, then the back of the collar is lifted off the head lip and finally the form is pulled out from the garment which has been folded around it, such withdrawal of the form being unhindered References Cited ea:(I/olel;lzt1'1l1l'el6tr;i1 the sloped lateral portions and the UNITED STATES PATENTS 2. A reusable withdrawahle form as set forth in claim 2,615,601 10/1952 Kahn 223' 71 1 which further includes means providing handling aper- 5 2,620,950 12/1952 223-71 tures in the 0f the form Y P 3, A reusable withdrawable form as set forth in claim 29 741837 3/1961 Boehmer 223 '71 2 wherein there are three elongated handling apertures, 3,116,859 1/1964 Worky 223 71 two of said apertures hein adjacent and parallel to opposite side edges and a third aperture being perpendicular 10 JORDAN FRANKLIN u Exammer' to the first two apertures and being located near the top GEORGE V. LARKIN, Examiner.

edge. a 

